All 3 of those are quality assets though, depending on whether Torres castrates himself.

Absolutely, they are. But Smith and Gordon had great years here in Phoenix and are unlikely to switch teams. Torres is unlikely to find a suitor that will pay him as much as the Coyotes will, given that he will most likely be a marked man. So I consider that hardly exposed, whereas some teams are looking at losing multiple core pieces.

Absolutely, they are. But Smith and Gordon had great years here in Phoenix and are unlikely to switch teams. Torres is unlikely to find a suitor that will pay him as much as the Coyotes will, given that he will most likely be a marked man. So I consider that hardly exposed, whereas some teams are looking at losing multiple core pieces.

I don't know about Torres, GMs love the opportunity of giving a player redemption, plus Torres might be pissed about GMDM not sticking up for him (or getting a gag order from ownership aka the NHL.)

I don't know about Torres, GMs love the opportunity of giving a player redemption, plus Torres might be pissed about GMDM not sticking up for him (or getting a gag order from ownership aka the NHL.)

He didn't stick up for him? How so? He was there with him at the meeting I believe, and we don't know what was said behind the closed doors to the panel, etc. The league threw the book at Torres because they needed to do something, and after the Torres incident, I believe there were no more suspensions handed down if I'm not mistaken. There might have been plays that were suspension worthy, but people were over it because of the massive sentence laid down on Torres, etc. The league did that to take attention away from the certain hits and what should happen.

Honestly, when we start playing hockey again, and when Torres gets announced, I want everyone in Jobing.com to stand on their feet and start chanting "Torres! Torres! Torres!" or "Raffi! Raffi! Raffi!". God knows I will for his first home game back. He was a great key to how we did well, he played hard in the playoffs and was always fighting for the puck and giving 110% effort. I want him back.

I really hope we can bring back Smith and Gordon. I wouldn't take a chance on Torres. He needs to change his game or he'll continually be suspended. That reputation isn't going to go away even with no hockey this year. Problem is, if he changes his game he might not be effective anymore.

"Make Whole" was offered to the nhlpa the 2nd week of October and defined for us fans the first week of November. That NHL offer back in October to save the 82 game season did have some contracting limitations that have since been softened through bargaining. The NHLPA has saved themselves an extra year on ELCs and lost at least 25% of their wages this season. Good job. "Make Whole" is bound to shrink significantly now that the league will he hard pressed to squeeze in even two thirds of a season.

If these NHLPA knuckleheads would've just negotiated off of the mid October NHL offer, they'd have been able to preserve 82 games, likely would've been able to bargain 211m in make whole to maybe 250m and moved the NHL even further in terms of team revenue sharing. The NHL's ELC and UFA demands were obviously meant to work together. The fact that they moved on ELC shows me they'd move ob UFA. The players would likely have been able to keep both untouched.

If they'd bumped Make Whole to 250m, got 82games worth of pay, sacrificed on contract term limit(say they got the nhl to six years), back diving contracts, and arbitration while getting the NHL to kick in even more team revenue sharing they'd be a week into a full season right now.

Can anyone reasonably expect they can now possibly get a deal approaching anywhere near that good? There is just no way in Hell. Best case scenario is they lose 30% of their wages this year due to lost games, they see revenue shrink, and Make Whole will he less than 211m. No matter how much they "win" in other areas of negotiation from this point on, theyll NEVER make up for what they lost in the three weeks of stupidity following the nhl's mid October offer.

They'd have been better off just saying "okay" and accepting that offer outright, sight unseen, based simply on trusting the owners than they are now.

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This poster should not be taken seriously under any circumstances.

Last time the players gave in to the owners, they ended up with the better deal. A smart player union would agree to a reasonable revenue split (50/50 is fine) and in exchange go after all the small things owners could care less about (contracting rights) but that drastically affect players.

Sadly, there aren't a lot of smart players out there. They are under the impression that, somehow, owners don't want to grow revenues and make more money (thus paying players more). Hamrlik, Neuvirth, Jagr etc... all got tarred and feathered by fellow players for showing moderation. They've drank too much Fehr brand koolaid to turn back at this juncture. I suspect we will lose the season, the players will break and be curb stomped by the owners yet again. Considering how that turned out for everyone the last time around, it's for the best. Just not much fun for the fans.

Plus, it seems that the players think that each contract gets worse, so then why go for a shorter period of 6 years, agree to a 10 year contract. We wouldn't have been having this discussion now (at least for another 4 years) had they agreed to 10 years before.

Last time the players gave in to the owners, they ended up with the better deal. A smart player union would agree to a reasonable revenue split (50/50 is fine) and in exchange go after all the small things owners could care less about (contracting rights) but that drastically affect players.

This is one of the most frustrating things to me. The players seem to be re-fighting the "battle they lost in 2004", when it turned out after everything was said and done that they did quite well under the past CBA.

Quote:

Originally Posted by XX

Sadly, there aren't a lot of smart players out there. They are under the impression that, somehow, owners don't want to grow revenues and make more money (thus paying players more). Hamrlik, Neuvirth, Jagr etc... all got tarred and feathered by fellow players for showing moderation. They've drank too much Fehr brand koolaid to turn back at this juncture. I suspect we will lose the season, the players will break and be curb stomped by the owners yet again. Considering how that turned out for everyone the last time around, it's for the best. Just not much fun for the fans.

It does seem to be something of a dysfunctional union. I really can't blame Fehr--he's just doing what the union hired him to do in the first place.

There just aren't any incentives for the majority of owners to cave in anyway. When you're posting losses at the end of each season like most teams do, what's the point of running a business?

The players are the ones risking a lot by not playing. Careers are pretty short. These are precious few months of potential income lost for the majority of players. So until another league starts paying as much as the NHL, or until most NHL clubs start turning in profits, owners will be dictating the outcome of work stoppages. It's not rocket science.